Maybe It's Not All Against Me
by kikumarucat
Summary: Prequel/Sequel to Closure! Fuji and Tezuka deal with school, life, and a crush that simply just makes their life harder. Poor them. FujixSakunoxTezuka Disclaimer: not mine!
1. Chapter 1

Maybe It's Not All Against Me

Chapter 1

* * *

I don't own POT. Sad face.

* * *

Sakuno ran into the tennis courts. Everyone was playing tennis happily. Even Tezuka. He was having a rally with Inui, and they both seemed to be enjoying it...or as much as stoic people can enjoy things.

"Obaa-chan!" Sakuno called.

Everyone turned to look at her. She stopped, looked around, and blushed. 'Oops,' she thought. 'I was only looking at Obaa-chan, not at my surroundings."

Ryuuzaki Sakuno, granddaughter of Ryuuzaki Sumire, is now 13. She has turned into a lovely girl in the span of one year. Oh, she still has the same big eyes, twin braids, and innocent look, but something seems much more radiant about her. Her personalitly changed a little, too. Going from apologizing to everything, extremely shy, and blushing at everything to apologizing only a little more than necessary, only being shy with strangers or touchy things, and… actually, she still blushes a lot.

Sakuno has caught the eyes of many boys with her beauty, but they are all turned down if they confess. Why?

Because she has a boyfriend. Nobody in a million years would have thought this! Little Ryuuzaki-chan, having a boyfriend? Impossible! But here, in Seigaku, the impossible is possible. After all, even after a year, the middle school tennis team is all still together. Tezuka, Fuji, Inui, Takahashi, Eiji, Oishi, Momoshiro, Kaidoh. Well, all except one. Echizen Ryoma. He is still in America, playing competitive tennis and dominating it. Everyone on the tennis team respected his decision and vowed to get to Nationals without him.

Ryuuzaki Sumire, coach of the middle school tennis team, walked over to Sakuno. "Sakuno!" she scolded. "You know better than to run into the tennis courts during practice!"

Sakuno hung her head. "Gomen..." she whispered.

Sumire shook her head. "Silly girl, what's done is done." She turned back to the players. "Get back to practice!" she shouted. Then she looked back at Sakuno. "So what did you want?"

Sakuno looked up at her grandmother. "Obaa-chan, I just wanted to tell you that I will be late. I'm going out today."

Sumire sighed. "With him again? Okay, just make sure you're back by 9:00. Tell him he'll be flayed alive if you're not back at that time."

Sakuno giggled. "Okay!" Then she ran out of the tennis courts, fortunately this time not disturbing anyone,

Okay, that was a lie. She did distract some people, two people in particular, but not knowingly, and not with her running. No, it was definitely something else, maybe her...charisma.

Sakuno now ran towards the Sakura Park. She prayed her clumsiness (which still hasn't gone away) wouldn't slow her down. She finally reached there and turned on her cell phone.

_4:00. The place where we met. Don't be late._ She re-read the message and checked the time on the top corner. 4:04. Oops. Oh well, at least it was only 5 minutes. Anyway, he was used to it. He just used _Don't be late_ to make her panic. He texted her so much, he even put it as his signature. It never worked to make her on time though.

She looked around. Where was he? Suddenly, the world went black.

"Guess who." A sexy voice drawled.

Sakuno smiled, hands still covering her face.

"Yuushi."

**A/N: Here it is! The sequel to Closure. Anyone able to guess who this "Yuushi" is? Most of you should be able to! See ya! By the way, credits to Girl-luvs-manga for giving me ideas for the name! Bye!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**A/N: Some of you may be wondering why the middle schoolers are all still together. Well, in this story, the curriculum changed before they got to high school. they changed the curriculum so middle school is to 5th year. So now, Sakuno, Ryoma, and all the original freshmen in the manga are now 2nd year and 13, Momo and Kaidoh are 3rd year and 14, and the 3rd years aka Oishi, Eiji, Tezuka, Fuji, Inui, ect. are now 15. Sorry if I confused you! Now on with the story!**

* * *

Something whirled Sakuno around. She giggled and came face to face with her boyfriend."Yuushi, sorry I'm late! It wasn't that long, but did you wait for a long time?"

Oshitari Yuushi smirked. Oshitari Yuushi. Vice-captain of Hyotei. Wears glasses because he thinks it makes him look smarter. Has fangirls to rival with Atobe's, but whatever. Currently holds position of Sakuno's boyfriend.

"Iie, I just got here. Anyway, let's go."

Oshitari kissed Sakuno on the forehead, and started walking in front of her. He knew that her face was flaming right now, and that amused him. Ryuuzaki Sakuno was such a fun plaything. She's too innocent.

Sakuno followed after Oshitari obediently. She wondered where they were going, as he never told her where they were going on all of their earlier dates either. It was fun to guess, though.

"Ne, Yuushi, are we going to... the aquarium?"

"No."

"Hmm... the fair?"

"Nope, we will soon though."

"I'll keep that in mind the next time I guess. The mall?"

"Yes. Do you know where in the mall? By the way, I know you said that because we just stopped in front of the huge sign and building that says Mall."

Sakuno blushed. He caught her. And she thought she was sounding smart for once!

Oshitari led the way in. He weaved through people, but never looked back once to see if Sakuno was still with him. Fortunately, his dark blue hair stood out in the spring colours everyone was wearing.

Finally, he stopped. Right in front of a arcade.

"Ano… Yuushi… I don't know how to play games. I've never been in an arcade before."

Oshitari smirked. He knew this was going to happen. "Don't worry. I'll teach you."

Sakuno smiled. He would spend more time talking to her. That was good. She hasn't really _talked_ talked to him in a while. Mostly it was just chitchat, texts, and things that were necessary to say.

The couple headed inside. The arcade was dark, with flashing lights, shouts of teens, and _bioong _sounds of someone dying in laser tag, always followed by a couple of swear words.

Sakuno clung to Oshitari. This was a scary, unfamiliar place to her. Good thing he was here, or else she might not be able to handle it.

Oshitari smirked. Again. This is getting too repetitive. Just imagine he smirks before saying anything, okay? He could practically read her mind. Good, it fitted in with his master plan for entertainment.

He set Sakuno up with a shooting zombie game. "Sakuno, do you know how to play this?"

"No…"

Oshitari smir- whatever. "I want to get us some drinks, so just kind of learn as you play, alright?"

"Ah-ah… Yuush-" It was too late. Oshitari had already left the arcade.

* * *

Oshitari now smirked again. He pulled out his phone, a trusty IPhone 6, the newest model that hasn't even been released yet. He turned it off. Then, he went to the smoothie stand.

* * *

"Ah…. Window shopping is harder than you'd think."

Fuji was by the food court and the store Guess, looking at purses. It was his sister Fuji Yumiko's birthday next week, and he needed to buy a present.

It wasn't going so well.

"Saa, maybe I find Yuuta and see what he thinks I should buy. Then I could tease him and see that Mizako again…"

He sees a small flowered hair clip on one of the mannequins. It instantly reminds him of the ache in his heart.

"Screw you, Oshitari Yuushi of Hyotei..."

And hey, what a coinkydink! There's the male, strolling leisurely towards the smoothie booth. He's turning off his cell phone. As much as he hated the male, Fuji had to admit Oshitari had a nice cell phone. It was very slim.

"I should get one of those…"

* * *

As Fuji pondered the idea of maybe getting one of those for either himself or his Nee-san, Oshitari walked up to the smoothie stand.

"One strawberry smoothie please."

He slid 200 yen across the counter and waited. The worker seemed awfully frightened by Oshitari's coolness. He prepared the smoothie in a few seconds and put it on the plastic counter with shaking hands.

"Your money's on the side. Keep the change." With that, Oshitari took the smoothie and walked to the escalator.

Fuji watched Oshitari go to the escalator. He decided that though he loved himself and his Nee-san, that phone looked extremely expensive.

He expected Oshitari to board the escalator, but surprisingly, he just walked to the side and stood there.

Fuji made up his mind to just stand there and watch. This seemed suspicious.

* * *

**A/N: I hope this longer chapter keeps you satisfied! If any of you read It's So Different, sorry for not updating in a while! I will soon! Bye!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

* * *

Fuji knew he would look suspicious staring at a boy in plain sight, so he took precautions. He ducked between people, pretended to window shop (he did see a nice manicure set he planned to buy for his sister later), and hid behind potted plants. He thought he was being pretty sneaky, until people started to stare at him. Then he realized he was attracting more attention than not. So he decided to just sit at a food court table and discreetly stare at Oshitari.

Oshitari really wasn't doing anything for the first 5 minutes. All he did was hold the strawberry smoothie and stand there, looking smug and smirking. Fuji knew strawberry was Sakuno's favourite flavor, and that Oshitari was going out with Sakuno, so it must be for her. Made sense that he was waiting for her, too, as she was always late. That was all data stolen from Inui's notebook. But what _didn't_ make sense was the whole smirking thing. He should be looking at his watch and be concerned. But noo, he was just standing there being all pleased with himself.

Then Fuji saw it. A strawberry blond haired girl came over to Oshitari. She smiled, and waved. Oshitari straightened up and greeted her. In an odd fashion. By odd fashion, Fuji meant… they kissed. You know. The action where two people, in this case Oshitari and the blond girl, put their lips together, closed their eyes in bliss, ect ect ect.

Fuji was _fuming_. How dare the damn bastard cheat on sweet Sakuno! He should be the one to date her and make her happy.

* * *

Yes, Fuji Syuusuke liked Ryuuzaki Sakuno. Loved, even. He realized he loved her from the end of 3rd year. Unfortunately for his luck, that around the same time Tezuka realized his feelings too. Then, that blue haired bastard came and took her away before any of them knew it.

* * *

Suddenly, Fuji realized something. Sakuno was telling the coach at tennis practice today that she was going on a date. If she was, and Oshitari was here, then where was she? She couldn't have dyed her hair blond and grew a few centimeters taller in a few short hours.

Fuji came to the two most likely conclusions. It is highly unlikely for the above theory to be true. Sakuno didn't seem like the type to skip things, either. So, either their date was already over, and Sakuno was home, or Oshitari ditched her. The latter seemed more likely, as normal dates last for at least 2 hours, and it's only been an hour after tennis practice. Oshitari wouldn't skip tennis practice either….or maybe. Who knows what "The Man with a Thousand Techniques" would do. By the way, Oshitari was such a copy-cat. He did NOT come up with Higuma Otoshi, people! Come on! Who's the "Tensai" here! And it's not that bubblegum head from Rikkaidai, either! Geez!

Finally, the two lip-suckers broke apart. Took long enough. Oshitari handed the ghoulish-looking blond (Fuji only said that because he's cheating with her. Otherwise she would have seemed quite pretty to Fuji) the strawberry smoothie- so that's who it was for!- and they went down the escalator.

The blond then turned to Oshitari and said something. He nodded and looked forward again. Then, when they reached the end of the escalator, they stepped off and… got onto the one going up.

Fuji furrowed his brow. Were they playing like little kids, going up and down the magic stairs? Then he realized he was an idiot. They needed to go up. Duh. Whoops.

Once they got off the escalator, they started walking towards the food court. Where Fuji was sitting. Crap.

Fuji quickly got out of his chair, and used one of his earlier skills. He ducked behind a potted plant. It was quick thinking, as Oshitari and the dumb blond (he hated her without even knowing her) never noticed the male behind the potted fern and walked right past him. Wow. It was a miracle.

They got a carton of Greek salad (now he hated her more. Anyone who ate salads willingly was anorexic in Fuji's mind. He hated Greek salad. He was Japanese, for god's sake!) and walked by the potted plant again.

Fuji had to sneeze. Shoot. If he sneezed now, they were going to hear him! Damn person who were talking about him!

In another place: "And Fuji just went _whoosh_ and the other guy was just like what? How did that ball get past me? It was so funny, nya~!

Back to normal time: Fuji couldn't hold it in anymore. He covered his mouth and nose as best as he could.

"_A-cthu!"_

* * *

Oshitari glanced over. He could have sworn he heard something resembling a sneeze from… the potted plant. Whatever. He couldn't see anyone through the leaves. His mind was playing tricks on him. Plants don't sneeze.

* * *

Fuji crouched behind the pot part of the potted plant. It was a good thing he did, or else Oshitari would have seen him through the far parted-leaves. Who puts ferns in a pot, anyways?

Fuji knew enough. Oshitari was cheating on Sakuno, and that was all he needed to know. All he needed to do is set up a plan for Sakuno find this out… without anyone telling her.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**A/N: I do not own Prince of Tennis, or the store Coach.**

* * *

Tezuka sat on his bed after coming home from tennis practice, managing to hold his stoic face. Amazingly. While he had to listen to a shrieking voice in his phone.

It was yelling "Kuni! Kuni! Guess what! I went online, and saw this AH-MAZIN manicure set! I HAVE to get it! Will you please, PLEASE buy it for me?! It's only sold in Japan, and _blah blah blah blah_…"

Tezuka tried to tune the voice out, but he couldn't. It was like a ambulance whine. It stuck in your head even after it was long gone. Except this one never left.

Finally he sighed, cutting off the screeching. How his cousin heard him sigh was beyond him.

"Amelia, I will get it for you. Now, isn't it time for you to go to your French tutoring class?" That was a wild guess. Anything to stop the sound coming from the phone.

"… OMIGOD LOOK AT THE TIME YOU'RE RIGHT I GOTTA GO KUNI SEE YA THANKSSOMUCHBYE!" _*click*_

"Kuni" put his phone back into his pocket and rubbed his ears. He could still hear the "Kuni! Kuni!" echoing. By the way, that was a _terrible_ nickname, though he allowed people close to him to call him that.

Tezuka sighed once again. He needed to act fast to protect his ears from further damage. God knows how impatient his dear cousin was.

He needed to go to the mall.

* * *

Tezuka walked through the quite unfamiliar place to him called the "mall". Why was it called that, anyway? He hasn't been here in a long time. He never had any reason to go. Clothes, his mom bought. He actually kind of liked the lavender shirts his mom always bought. Entertainment, you can get books from a bookstore. Food? Eat at home. Why go out and spend money on fast food? Sushi was alright though. He didn't really mind going to eat at Kawamura's Sushi. Though it was kind of annoying to always be thought of as the sensei. Sometimes he thought Kawamura's dad was faking it.

But Tezuka was going off on a tangent. The point was, he needed to find this store called… he checked the paper he had written it down on. Coach? As in, Coach Ryuuzaki Coach? He had no idea why a possible athletic store would sell nail products, but he wasn't the expert.

He passed by a dark store. A very dark, _noisy _store. It was hurting his already sore ears.

His cousin had said that is may be a loud store. She stressed that it _may_, as Coach seemed to be more of an adult store, but you never know. And that was his only clue of where the store was. He wasn't even sure if the store was in this _mall_.

Tezuka decided to try his luck. He peered inside. Well. He was wrong. This most likely wasn't a store. There were arcade machines, that's what tipped him off. There was no sign of manicure sets or athletic gear either, so it wasn't Coach if it was a store.

He turned around, ready to leave, when he saw a familiar thing. Two familiar things, actually. He saw two twin braids.

Like Fuji, Tezuka immediately got an ache in his heart. Or where his heart should have been. Well, it was there literally. But figuratively, it was stolen. By a certain shy, clumsy girl.

* * *

Yeah, Tezuka was in love with Ryuuzaki Sakuno. It sucked. He would say that, even though he was certainly not the type to say things like that. But really. It sucked even more that his best friend Fuji was in love with her too. But he would cross that bridge when or if it got to that. What sucked the _most_ was that Oshitari Yuushi, vice captain of the Hyotei tennis team, was dating the girl of his dreams. Now _that_ sucked.

* * *

Speaking of dreams, he wondered if he was in one now. Because the object of his affections was standing a few feet away from him. Playing a shooting game. In a dark, loud arcade.

Wait. She was losing at it. Pretty badly. No, this wasn't a dream. If it was, she would be winning. And probably not playing a shooting game. Not to say Sakuno playing shooting games and winning was impossible, just… whatever.

Tezuka just froze. What should he do? He pondered for a bit then decided.

* * *

(**A/N: Note that this is 3rd person POV, so the names will all be the ones most familiar to the reader when thinking. This means that if Sakuno thinks **_**Tezuka**_** in this POV, she still thinks of him as **_**Tezuka-buchou**_** in her actual mind. Sorry to interrupt. Keep reading!**)

"Ryuuzkai."

Sakuno paused (meaning she paused both the game and she hesitated). Where had she heard that voice before? She looked left. Then right. Then a touch came from her left shoulder.

"I'm behind you." Tezuka thought this was cute. She was frantically searching left and right for the person who called her, but never thought to look behind.

"T-Tezuka-buchou?" she squeaked in surprise. Was this a dream? What was Tezuka doing in an arcade? Not to say it was impossible, it just seemed like he wasn't the type…

"Ryuuzaki-san…"Tezuka quickly searched for something to say to her. "Do you know where the store Coach is?"

Sakuno blinked. "Tezuka-buchou wants to shop at Coach?" she wondered, not realizing she said it aloud.

Tezuka realized what he had said. Quickly trying to cover it up, he blurted, "I need to buy something for my cousin!" He blushed slightly.

Sakuno smiled. "Sure! I'll lead you to it!" She was feeling more relaxed, partly from recovering from the surprise and partly from the funny thought and reality of Tezuka needing to shop at Coach.

Then Sakuno paused. She was still waiting for Oshitari. "Um…" She decided to not tell Tezuka and just return quickly. Hopefully Oshitari won't notice.

Sakuno started walking out of the arcade. "This way, Tezuka-buchou."

Tezuka just stood there. "Ryuuzaki." He said in his deep voice.

Sakuno stopped. "An…ano… yes?"

"The way out of the arcade is this way."

Sakuno blushed. "Ah- Hai!" she scampered out the correct exit, head down.

Tezuka smirked inwardly. Sakuno was cute as ever.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for not updating often! :/ I'll try harder.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

* * *

**3rd Person POV**

Sakuno walked ahead, occasionally looking back to check if Tezuka was still there. She knew the way to Coach pretty well, despite her non-existence abilities to find her way around places, because her mother used to love to go there and would drag her along.

Tezuka just walked leisurely, hands in his pockets. He was actually quite amused by Sakuno's braids. When she walked, they would sway from side to side, but they seemed to have a mind of their own, a similar mind to their owner, as they never hit anyone. When she turned around to check on him, he would quickly look away, but when she looked back at her front, he would turn his attention back to them and they would whip softly back to where Tezuka could have a full view of them. It was quite interesting.

"Ano, T-Tezuka-buchou, we're at Coach."

Tezuka looked up. On top of the not-noisy store, there were big letters that spelled out 'COACH', and a big symbol of a carriage drawn by horses- Oh. He wanted to bang himself on the wall.

He walked inside the seemly abandoned store. "Arigato, Ryuuzaki." He couldn't bring himself to tell her to go though.

A voice brought him back from his bout of self-pity. "Tezuka-buchou, w-would you like me to help you?"

He realized he was standing frozen at the entrance. The sight of all the woman's clothes was quite daunting. "Hai, Ryuuzaki. Thank you." He inwardly blushed with embarrassment and shame for asking his kohai to help.

Sakuno walked inside. "A-Ano, if you don't mind me asking, are you looking for something in particular, Tezuka-buchou?"

"My cousin requested I buy a…" He consulted the scrap of paper. "… a White-fully Delicious Manicure Set."

Sakuno nodded. "Hai, let's look for it!"

After quite an amount of time spent searching, Tezuka had a suggestion. "Ryuuzaki, we're never going to find it at this point. Let's just ask a salesperson."

Sakuno looked down. "Hai…" She felt like she had failed Tezuka. But he didn't notice.

Tezuka flagged down a worker walking around looking like she would much rather stick her head into a _Celebrity Living _then walk around a nearly abandoned store.

"Konnichiwa. How may I help you." She said in a monotone voice.

"I would like to purchase a White-fully Delicious Manicure Set like in the window, please." He replied back in a equally boring-voice.

The saleswoman finally came to attention and saw how _freaking hot_ the boy in front of her was. She resisted the urge to lick her lips.

"Of course, right this way, sir." She said in a sickly sweet voice, even worse than the monotone she used before.

Tezuka inwardly shuddered. How old was this woman, 30? She looked like she was stripping him naked with her eyes.

Sakuno followed wordlessly behind him. She was still sad that she let down Tezuka. She was sure it was her fault.

Tezuka finally noticed the silent Sakuno. He looked behind him discreetly and saw the miserable-looking girl, he realized what she was thinking. He slowed his pace to walk beside her.

Sakuno looked up. She met Tezuka's eyes. When she saw the nearly-unoticable softness in his eyes, she immediately understood that he did not blame her for anything. She nodded, brightened up and started walking with more of a bounce in her step. Tezuka felt a wave of happiness wash over him when she smiled cheerfully and beautifully at him.

The woman got to the counter. "Wait here please, Customer-sama." She said sweetly, ignoring Sakuno.

After a bit, she came out again empty-handed. "I'm sorry, Customer-sama, we are out of stock of those. If you are really urgent for one, we can sell you the one for display in the window."

"Hai. I will buy that one then." Tezuka said.

She smiled a fake smile and walked towards the window. She grabbed it for him and said, "It's $19.95, but I can give you a discount for $15.00. On a condition, of course." She faked another sick smile.

Tezuka immediately got what she implied and internally cringed. What, a bribe to get him to go out with her? Disgusting.

"No, thank you. I'll just pay the original amount." He said, flustering the woman. "But-"

Too bad. Tezuka was already walking towards the cash register to pay, Sakuno trailing behind him. She hurried to the counter and glared at Sakuno.

Seeing the fangirl-like glare (he had seen it many times before), he quickly paid and walked swiftly out of the shop. Sakuno trotted out with him.

* * *

_Tezuka POV_

Tezuka knew Sakuno would probably leave now, and he was preparing himself for it. He would be alone again soon. He actually enjoyed Sakuno's company.

Sure enough, it came. "Tezuka-buchou, I'm going back to the arcade now. Someone is waiting for me." Sakuno smiled at him again, making him feel like he was letting his guard down by almost smiling back. Before Tezuka got the courage to offer to walk her back, she had already left.

Tezuka felt quite depressed now. He always was the fearless, intelligent and prideful captain of the Seigaku tennis team (he knew this from the screaming of fangirls), but his brain never seemed to work as fast as usual when he was near the girl he liked.

He suddenly registered the blue hair he had always unconsciously stared and cursed at when it came to pick someone up at Seigaku. The head of hair that belonged to Oshitari Yuushi.

He automatically scolded himself. Oshitari was probably the person that Sakuno was meeting at the arcade. Damn! He should have made up another errand as an excuse for her to stay with him.

Then his tunnel vision zoomed out a little, to see a female walking beside him. What? Oshitari wouldn't bring a female friend on a date, would he? And the blond hair looked nothing alike to the blue hair Oshitari had. Only conclusion is- Oshitari's cheating. And deep in his heart, Tezuka knew that Tezuka himself had knew it all along.

They stopped at a plant. A big fern, to be exact. They looked a little shiny, like little droplets have been dropped on them recently. There, they parted ways.

Okay, now Tezuka knew they weren't family or platonic friends. After all, family or platonic friends wouldn't kiss each other passionately on the lips for 16 seconds, right?

Tezuka followed Oshitari back to the arcade stealthily, just in case he neede more proof. Oshitari walked to the entrance, and beckoned to someone. Sakuno soon emerged soon after.

"I'm sorry," Oshitari whispered in her ear, "they were out of strawberry smoothies. Next time."

Sakuno smiled and nodded. They left the mall.

Tezuka knew what he needed to do, despite the extreme embarrassment he will have to put himself through.

"Oh, god."

**A/N: The thought of Tezuka saying "Oh, god." Is funny to me. Imagine that!**


	6. Chapter 6

"Mm." Fuji murmured.

It was 7:30 in the morning, _on a Saturday,_ and Fuji was up happily watering his plants.

"Oh, Cactus, don't you cry for me," Fuji sang, switching the words in the classic song "Oh. Susannah".

He finished, and started walking about his room, looking for something to do. He couldn't go back to sleep, it was too late.

"_Aniki! Shut up!_"

Well, only for Fuji, anyways.

"Ohayo, Yuuta." Fuji smiled, talking to his beloved little brother through the wall. "How are you this fine morning?"

"Tired." Came he grumpy answer. "I come back from St. Rudolph for the weekend, hoping to get some sleep because Mizuki will drag me off for training even on weekends, and I have to wake up because now you storm around at this godly hour on a weekend? You're just as bad as Mizuki!"

Fuji now frowned. It wasn't nice to compare your older brother to someone he doesn't know. "Who is this Miziki?"

"_ARGH_!" Fuji could hear the sounds of covers sliding, and he guessed that that meant his brother had pulled the blankets over his head to try and go back to sleep.

Fuji chuckled, and turned to his desk. He reached underneath it, and pressed a button.

A panel slid out, and he lifted the top. He took out a small stack of pictures.

There was maybe 5-7 pictures, and he handled them as gently as if they were fragile jewels. They all had something in common- they were all snapshots of Ryuuzaki Sakuno.

Fuji treasured these pictures. It wasn't easy to whip out his camera and take a picture without her noticing. She looked peaceful, and extremely beautiful. Not that she wasn't always beautiful. He was lucky she didn't hear the _clicks_.

After all, pictures are most pure when someone doesn't know you're taking them.

He smiled at the pictures, and slid them back. He went downstairs.

"I'm going now, Nee-chan." He told his sister, slipping on his jacket.

"Where are you going, Syuusuke?" She asked, not nosily, just curious.

He smiled. "Hyotei. Itakimasu!"

He left the house and closed the gate, enjoying the confused expression he knew was on his sister's face.

* * *

Tezuka sipped his tea.

_Occasionally, they would use hand grenades because in the time period of World War 2, the gunpowder was made of __potassium nitrate, charcoal, and other things that-_

Tezuka put his book down and sighed. It was all he could do to not throw his war history book across the room and scream, clutching his hair in his fists.

Yeah, when love is unrequited, it makes even the most stoic people want to do that.

He went out of his room and downstairs. He went into the kitchen where his mom was chopping up vegetables.

"Okaa-san, I need to go somewhere."

His mother smiled at him. "Okay, Kunimitsu, I trust you. Come back before 6:00, okay? We need to eat dinner by then."

Tezuka nodded. "Hai. Arigato."

He left the house and was just closing his front door when he heard his mother call something

"Kunimitsu, try to find a nice girl, okay?"

_Clunk_. The door closed harder than it needed have.

* * *

"Ohayo, Atobe."

Atobe's eye twitched. His regulars were standing behind him, muttering.

Fuji smiled. He was having a kick out of this.

"Fuji." Atobe grounded out through his teeth. "Pray may Ore-sama ask, what are you doing here interrupting Ore-sama's practice?"

Fuji didn't seem fazed at all by Atobe's obvious distress. "Um… something. Let me go into your clubroom, and when I come out, I'll tell you."

"What? No way." Atobe declared. "Ore-sama does not let strangers go into his clubroom. Ore-sama is not that foolish."

"Please?"

"No."

Fuji sighed. "Atobe, you know that even if you refuse, I will get in there somehow, and I will add some torture to you in the bargain."

Oshitari chimed in. "You know he's right, Atobe." Oh, he will _so _regret siding with Fuji.

Atobe turned up his nose. "Fine. Ore-sama will _generously _let you. But you better tell Ore-sama what you came for."

"Gladly, my dear Atobe." Fuji smiled, though he had no idea what he will tell Atobe.

Atobe tossed Fuji the clubhouse keys. "Don't ruin anything, Fuji."

"What makes you say that?" Fuji smirked triumphantly, and took off towards the clubhouse.

* * *

Tezuka walked briskly towards Hyotei.

_Kunimitsu, find a nice girl, okay?_

_Too late,_ Tezuka thought. _I've already found one, but there's a slight problem, Okaa-san. She's going out with another man. Oh yeah, did I mention she's also the granddaughter of our scary, scary tennis coach?_

He was so busy in his internal ranting that he didn't realize he walked past Hyotei. At least he wasn't on a bus and fell asleep, like that boy named Kirihara Akaya from Rikkaidai. Tezuka actually cared about global warming, and walked more than bused.

He walked back to the extravagant gate of Hyotei, and pushed open the gate of pearls. Hyotei really over do's everything.

He'll go towards the clubhouse first. See if one of the regulars are there.

"…Fuji?"

* * *

Fuji unlocked the door to the giant room. Or it was supposed to be a room. It looked like a small mansion. Hyotei is such a show-off.

He walked inside. There were ceiling-to-floor sized silver lockers, and they each took up half a wall. There was also a purple velvet curtain that the regulars probably changed behind. There were flowers and small decorations everywhere.

Fuji strode towards the locker that read "Oshitari Yuushi". He quickly lockpicked it- what do you expect? He's Fuji- and opened it.

Ah, there was his cell phone. Fuji picked it up and shamelessly flipped it open. There was a picture of Oshitari and Gakuto together as his background.

He opened his text inbox and scrolled through them. As expected, there were only 3 girls Oshitari texted- Sakuno, his mom, and a girl named Floria. That's probably the blond girl he's cheating with.

Fuji opened a text, just in case. Yep- he wouldn't be exchanging romantic texts with a member of his family.

He quickly created a new message, and addressed it to "Floria's" contact address. This is what he wrote, using Oshitari's style of texting:

_"Hey, come to Chapters on Friday, 3:30 pm. It's a date. Don't reply._"

Send. Fuji smirked, and put the phone back in Oshitari's locker.

He went out of the clubhouse, and locked the door. Fuji was just about to walk back to the tennis courts to return the keys, when-

"…Fuji?"

* * *

Tezuka was mildly surprised. Mildly, since nothing surprises , walking out of Hyotei's clubhouse? Not a normal sight, but there's an explanation of everything.

Fuji froze, and looked at him. For a split second. Then he went back to calmly locking the door.

When he pulled the key out of the lock, he walked over to Tezuka.

"What'cha doing here, Tezuka?" Fuji asked, in a slightly teasing, mocking way.

Tezuka cleared his throat. "…Nothing you need to know, Fuji. What are you doing here?"

Fuji frowned. "Nothing you need to know, Tezuka." He imitated.

Tezuka glared, and Fuji glared back. This went on for a while, until Fuji started laughing.

"Okay, Tezuka. You win. I still won't tell you what I'm here for, but will you do a favour for me? I guarantee it will contain positive results for you."

Tezuka was suspicious. "What favour?"

"Call this number," Fuji rattled off a phone number, "and ask her name, what school she's from, her age, and who she is dating. Don't answer any questions she asks you. Oh, and ask her to go with you to Chapters on Friday, 3:30 pm. You won't have to actually date her. Just show up, but don't let her see you."

Those were a lot of things to remember.

"Oh, and I'll email you these things so you won't forget."

Never mind. Tezuka knows he can't back out, and anyways, what's the harm?

"Fine. I'm leaving now, Fuji." Tezuka said shortly.

Fuji smirked. "Have a feeling that you got what you wanted, huh, Tezuka?"

Tezuka ignored him and left Hyotei's grounds.

Fuji was glad he met Tezuka here. He needed extra security that the blond would show up. She could be one of those flimsy things that come and go, but now she'll definitely go for a date _the_ Tezuka Kunimitsu. Now he wouldn't have to call her himself.

"_Fuji!_" The roar of Atobe could be heard everywhere.

* * *

Fuji walked up behind Atobe.

"Boo." He whispered.

Atobe jumped. "Argh, Fuji," he sounded frustrated, "I thought you made off with my keys."

Fuji put on a hurt expression. "Why would I do that, Atobe?" He found it amusing that Atobe was so distressed that he forgot to refer to himself as "Ore-sama".

Atobe growled. "Give them to me, Fuji."

Fuji smiled. "Don't be so grumpy, Atobe." He tossed the keys to him.

Atobe quickly redeemed himelf. "So, what were you doing in Ore-sama's clubhouse, ahn? Were you stunned and jealous of Ore-sama's beautiful change room?" He flipped his hair.

Fuji resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "No, Atobe. I'm going to leave now." He intentionally reminded Atobe of something.

Atobe fell right into his manipulation. "Wait. You forgot to tell Ore-sama what you came for."

Fuji smirked. "Well, I want to buy a good romance novel. Can you come with me to Chapters on Friday to choose one with me?"

Atobe frowned. "No. Ore-sama cannot be bothered with this frivolous action. But since you asked nicely, Ore-sama shall send one of his regulars, Oshitari Yuushi, with you."

Fuji smiled widely. "Great! Tell him to be at Chapters on Friday, 3:30 pm!"

He then walked away, satisfied. His plan was falling right into place.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

* * *

I don't own POT

* * *

"Wah, Sakuno-chan!"

Eiji ran up to Sakuno. She turned around.

"Hai? What is it, senpai?" She asked sweetly.

He blushed slightly, but managed to keep going. "C-Can you go to Chapters today after school at 3:30? You can get there quickly because it's a half-day today, and school ends at 11:45! Wait, you already know that! Right? Well, Gakuto from Hyotei said Oshitari wanted to tell you, but his phone broke. So, he asked him to tell me that his phone is broken and he wanted him to tell me that Sakuno needs to go with him on a date… There's too many he's in there, right? The point is, Oshitari wants you to go on a date with him in Chapters at 3:30 pm on Friday, which is today!"

Eiji broke off his monologue, taking a deep breath. Sakuno giggled.

"Okay, so I go to Chapters at 3:30 pm today after school?" She confirmed. Eiji nodded vigorously.

She started laughing prettily. "Okay, thanks, Eiji-senpai!"

Eiji held up a peace sign with his fingers, and Sakuno walked off to her next class. Eiji started to do the same, then stopped.

"I wonder why Fuji wanted me to tell her that, but that Gakuto told her. I wouldn't hang out with Gakuto, obviously. Why wouldn't Fuji want her to know that he was the one that passed on the message from Oshitari to me?" Eiji mused.

"Huh… Oh well! Whatever!" He easily cleared the thought from his head and went skipping to his next class.

* * *

Tezuka winced. This girl's voice was exactly like his cousin Amelia's. High-pitched, whiny and annoying.

"OMG! I'd, like, totally love to go with you!" Some random girl- Tezuka checked the email from Fuji- Floria gushed over the phone. "Like, I'll meet you at Chapters, 3:30, 'kay? See ya then, hon!" Tezuka hung up before she could say anything else.

Tezuka sighed. He hated girls like that. The first thing she did when he told her his name was squeal, refer to him as "total hotness", and used her 3 other IPhones to start calling her other friends.

He sat on his bed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Ah. Instant relief. He stressed about what Fuji was going to do. Asking him to con a girl to date him? There's definitely something up with that.

He looked at his clock. It was 1:27. 2 more hours until whatever exploit Fuji was going to do.

Tezuka decided to go to the mall to see it.

* * *

Sakuno skipped happily towards the mall.

'I can't wait for today!' she thought. 'This time I'll be bold, and really talk to Yuushi! I'll have a conversation with him!'

Sakuno wondered why he didn't text her, and instead told Gakuto to tell Eiji about their date. Oh well, she mused, it's probably not important.

She got to Chapters and looked at her watch. 3:25.

* * *

Fuji and Oshitari walked into the mall at 3:15.

"Okay, Oshitari, we need to go to Chapters to get my _book_." Fuji said, trying to keep the hate and sarcasm from his voice.

Oshitari nodded absent-mindedly.

As they walked nearer and nearer to Chapters, Fuji suddenly stopped.

"Oh, Oshitari, I need to use the restroom. You can go ahead."

When Oshitari looked doubtful, Fuji added,

"I may take a while."

That got Oshitari going.

When the blue-haired lad was out of sight, Fuji looked at his watch.

"3:25… perfect."

* * *

Fuji walked around for a bit, then started heading towards Chapters slowly. He saw Tezuka through the crowd.

"Ne," he said, jogging up to Tezuka, "So you really did come instead."

Tezuka pushed up his glasses, "Just to make sure you didn't do anything life-threatening to anyone."

Fuji's grin widened.

They saw a table and sat there, where they could see the entrance of Chapters clearly, but others couldn't really see them.

Sakuno was standing by the left side of Chapters, while Floria was on the right. Both of them did not know each other, but they were both waiting for Oshitari.

Oshitari came walking by. Sakuno smiled, and started walking towards him. Before he could see her, though…

"Yuu-chan!" Floria rushed by and grabbed Oshitari around the neck. "OMG, so coincidental to see you here! Let's go on a date right this second!" She grabbed his face and brought it down for a long kiss. She had obviously forgotten about Tezuka.

Sakuno stopped in her tracks. Who was this girl here?

Oh, obviously, it was a fangirl. Of course! Soon, Yuushi will just push her away…

"Sure." Oshitari purred. "Can we do it in half an hour from now instead, though, sweet? I got a slight problem to deal with."

Sakuno felt a blow to her heart. He knew this girl, and even called her 'sweet'? He never called her that! And… was _she_ the slight problem he had to deal with?

Sakuno felt her emotional pipes cracking. And when she saw Floria squeal and hug Oshitari, burying her face in his neck, they burst.

And what came out was white-hot _anger._

She marched up to Oshitari. "So, _Yuu-chan_," she said spitefully. "Having fun?"

Oshitari looked surprised. "Sakuno-"

"Don't _Sakuno_ me!" she exploded. Tears started to run down her face. "This is what you always did behind my back, huh? I'm just your little problem that you play with, then trash!"

Floria got in Sakuno's face. "Who are _you_? Don't talk to my boyfriend like that, bitch!"

Sakuno recoiled at the use of that strong word, but turned back to Oshitari. "So this is your other girlfriend, huh? Well, I hope you're happy. You've succeeded in breaking my heart."

Sakuno walked right up to Oshitari, and slapped him as hard as he could in the face.

Sakuno walked away. Floria pounced on Oshitari, cooing and asking if he was okay, and that he shouldn't listen to fangirls like that braided girl that just left.

Fuji and Tezuka watched the whole thing unfold. Fuji stood up.

"Tezuka." He said.

Tezuka nodded. He stood up as well.

"Fuji… you did the right thing."

They both walked their separate ways.

Oshitari stood there, with Floria gushing over him and a red mark on his cheek, stood there dumbly staring at where Sakuno once was.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

* * *

_Me owning POT? Please. XD_

_BTW, the book-eater idea goes to Miss Selarne and her fic "Eating Books". It's funny- go read it! Thanks for letting me use the reference, Miss Selarne!_

* * *

Sakuno walked to school on Monday , braids hanging lifelessly behind her.

On Friday, after Oshitari broke up with her, she ran home crying, telling herself it was no use crying over a self-absorbed cheating bastard like him. When she opened the door and choked out, "Tadaima," her grandmother came running, hearing her tear-filled voice. Her Obaa-chan rocked her to sleep in her arms.

Why, why did she have to fall for Oshitari? She felt like such an idiot, like she should have seen it before. The way he left in the middle of their dates, or stood her up, playing around with her. She was so dumb.

Sakuno put her books in her locker and headed to the all-school assembly.

* * *

"Ne, Tezuka," Fuji said, a mischievous smile on his face.

"What is it, Fuji?" Tezuka said, putting his books in his locker. He was sure it would be something to do with Sakuno and his plan on Friday-

"I hear you're a book eater."

Tezuka turned to face Fuji and sweatdropped.

"Anyways," Fuji continued, "I know you think I'm going to say something about her. But let's talk about this later, okay? 4 o'clock after school, by the cherry blossom trees."

Tezuka looked at him weirdly. Isn't that where lovers confess to each other?

"Okay! It's a date, Tezzie! Bye-bye!" Fuji happily skipped off.

Tezuka sighed. Fuji will be Fuji. No trying to go against it.

* * *

"SAKUNOO!" Tomoka spotted Sakuno ran towards her as she entered the gym. "Omigod, are you alright? Where is that cheating bastard? Lemme at him! I'll beat him up for you, Saku!"

Tomoka was informed of Sakuno's heartbreak earlier last night, when Ryuuzaki-sensei called her in hopes of Tomoka being able to cheer Sakuno up at school.

Sakuno looked at Tomoka with a small smile, and hugged her.

"Arigato, Tomo-chan, for worrying about me. But really, I'm fine! Let's go to assembly."

Tomoka looked at Sakuno's smiling face. If Sakuno was so obviously denying it, there must be something wrong. Definitely.

* * *

Fuji looked around the school gym. There were flocks of students all around, talking and chattering about their weekend.

Where was Sakuno? He couldn't see her yet. Did she decide to skip school?

Ah, there she was. Sakuno walked in, looking sad and depressed. Fuji felt a ache in his heart. He wanted to run over to her and hug her.

Oshitari was such a bastard, doing this to her! Fuji conveniently forgot that he had set everyone up. Sakuno deserved to know, anyway.

He watched as her best friend- Tomaka? Tommika? Something of the kind- ran to Sakuno and put up her fists in a mock fighting stance, chattering away. Sakuno laughed and hugged her, saying something. And he saw To-something's face fall as she watched her best friend turn away to look at the podium.

Fuji suspected that To-fill-in-the-blank-ka realized how much her friend was hurting. And he bet that she wanted to help, too. Fuji filed this away in his mind cabinet in case he needed an extra helper in his plans (or someone to blackmail for fun).

Assembly started, and Fuji smiled blankly in the direction of the stage, internally making plans on what to do to mind-scar the people around him next.

He fantasized like this for a while, then glanced at Tezuka, who was intently staring at the blabbering headmaster. Really, how could anyone be focused on such a scatter-brained person for so long? Fuji despised the headmaster. He was so pompous and self-confident, believing his school was the absolute most amazing school. Fuji loved Seigaku as well, but he acknowledged other schools as good schools too.

"Tezuka," Fuji whispered.

Tezuka turned his head and inch to the left, eyes still on the headmaster. "What is it, Fuji? It better be something important."

Fuji smiled. "Do you like the flavor of romance books or comedy better?"

* * *

"Oshitari!" Atobe barked.

_Thwap_. A tennis ball landed an inch in front of Oshitari's feet, and bounced right up into his face, barely slicing off some of his bangs. He had no reaction.

"Oshitari!" Atobe yelled, stomping up to him. "Seriously, what is the matter with you?"

Oshitari snapped his head up, just noticing Atobe for the first time. "Eh? Atobe?"

Atobe sighed furiously.

"Ne, Oshitari-senpai," Choutarou called uneasily. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, Oshitari, Choutarou's right. Get your head in the game, or you'll be gekidasa daze!" Shishido chimed in.

Oshitari was already back to staring at the ground.

"Oi!" Shishido felt his eye twitch. "Oshitari!"

No response.

"Yuushiiii," Gakuto cried, jumping on his back, "You're being super scary."

Hiyoshi peered at Oshitari from behind a book- who knows where he got that during tennis practice. "Senpai… Gekokujou."

Jirou woke up, which was a huge surprise for everyone. "Kshuh? Whazzah happening… Oh! Yuushi! You broke up with that Saku girl, right? That sweet one that lets me use her as a teddy bear! She's always so red!

Everyone turned to him.

"Pwa… Pwaa… Pwhat?!" Gakuto spluttered. "How do you know that, Jirou? And what do you mean you 'use her as a teddy bear'?!"

"Oh!" Jirou chirped happily. "Kabaji-chan and I saw Saku-Saku slapping Yuushi! She looked like Sanada Genichirou from Rikkaidai, except with long braids! Hey! Rikkaidai is where Marui Bunta is! Sugoii!"

Everyone's first reaction was "Kabaji-chan?" Kabaji remained impassive.

Then suddenly everyone had a mental image of Sanada Genichirou in braids.

"Pfft!" Some people laughed, some people threw up. Most people threw up.

Finally, the situation sunk into everybody's minds.

"You broke up with your girlfriend?!" Gakuto fell off of Oshitari's back and faceplanted on the ground.

Atobe looked around at his teamates. He himself was pretty shocked. Oshitari was the type to cheese a girl into loving and forgiving him full-heartedly, not slapping him.

Oshitari was staring at the pavement, Gakuto was lying on the ground, Hiyoshi had lost interest in the conversation and was immersed in his book, and Jirou was one-sided chatting with Kabaji, who was just standing.

Those regulars didn't interest Atobe, though. No, the ones who interested him was his Doubles 1 team.

Shishido had taken off his cap and was twisting it around his finger nonchalantly. Choutarou was fretting over Gakuto.

They had one thing in common: they both wore a look of pure relief (though Shishido hid it better than Choutarou).

Atobe smirked. Silver pair, huh? Not to mention depressed Yuushi. This Saku was sure spreading a disease.

* * *

"Saku, Saku!" Tomoka ran up to her best friend. "Let's go eat ice cream!"

Sakuno paused in packing her schoolbooks in her bag. "Oh…"

Sakuno was planning on staying home and sulking, but if Tomo-chan said so… "Sure."

"Yatta!" Tomoka jumped up in happiness. "Let's go to Drangs! They have the best strawberry flavor in Tokyo, and strawberry's your favourite, right? Ikuso!" She grabbed Sakuno's half-packed bag and ran towards the exit.

"Ah- Chotto matte!" Sakuno grabbed the rest of her books in her arms and ran after her friend, braids flying wildly.

After getting Sakuno's books safely into her bag, they walked leisurely to Drangs.

"Ne, Saku," Tomoka started. Sakuno looked at her friend with a smile "Nani, Tomo-chan?"

"Don't you wonder how much of a coincidence it was that Oshitari and his girlfriend was at Chapters, just when you arrived?" Tomoka said in one breath. She held her breath, hoping Sakuno wouldn't be upset by this topic.

Sakuno shrugged. "Well, I never really thought about it. Ano…" Sakuno's eyes were filling up with tears already, and she took a deep breath. "Can we not talk about this?"

Tomoka jumped. "Of course, Sakuno. I'm sorry." She hugged her friend, and Sakuno let the tears fall.

* * *

"Fuji." Tezuka stood in front of said boy, eye twitching.

"Saa, what is it, Tezuka?" Fuji said, smiling like world hunger had been solved.

"That costume… Fuji." Tezuka tried not to finish the rest of the sentence, and hoped to get out of it by glaring at Fuji.

Fuji didn't fall for the bait. "What is it, Tezuka?" He sat down on a nearby ledge and crossed his legs.

Tezuka stared at the piece of skin that was revealed when Fuji crossed one leg over the other. He swallowed. "Please… get out of the… dress."

Fuji smiled. "But it's a nice maid cosplay, isn't it? I acquired it from the drama club. They were very willing!" He nodded to exaggerate his point. "Don't you like it?"

Tezuka frowned. "It looks… hard to move around in." He avoided saying the obvious.

"Fine." Fuji frowned as well.

He stripped of the dress, and was now bare naked in front of Tezuka except for short shorts. "Is this better to move around in?"

Tezuka closed his eyes in fear of being mind-scarred. Not that he wasn't already. "On second thought, put the dress back on, Fuji."

Fuji grinned, having got what he wanted.

"So," He said, zipping up the back of his dress. "To the point."

Tezuka nodded. "Ryuuzaki Sakuno."

Fuji looked confused. "What? No, I wanted to talk to you about Osakada Tomoka."

Tezuka stared. "…"

Fuji laughed. "Just kidding. But seriously." His face turned serious.

"Ryuuzaki Sakuno… will she… come between our friendship?"

* * *

TBC

(Lolz I love the feeling of saying that!) XD


End file.
